Hugh Studebaker

Hugh Studebaker (May 31, 1900 – May 26, 1978) was an American actor, born in Ridgeville, Indiana, who starred in old-time radio programs. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Studebaker.

Early years As a student, Studebaker was the male lead in the opera "King Hal," produced by his high school in Kansas City, Kansas.

Studebaker served in the United States Navy in World War I. After being discharged "at an early age," he took lessons to learn to sing and play the organ and "worked respectively as a blacksmith, salesman and postal clerk -- and didn't do well at any of them." which toured "under the auspices of the Redpath-Horner institute," Redpath-Horner was part of the Chatauqua movement.

Career Studebaker first performed on radio in 1927 as part of "Georgie and Porgie, the Breakfast Food Boys." Later, a job at KOIL radio in Omaha, Nebraska, provided "a daily fifteen-minute piano and conversational spot." He moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1934. There he "was a free-lance announcer, a disc jockey and occasionally got assignments in daytime dramas."

Studebaker also appeared in other programs, including The Romance of Helen Trent, Curtain Time, and Knickerbocker Playhouse, and he played Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.

Studebaker's mannerisms during broadcasts sometimes gave people in the studio an added dimension of entertainment. In 1937, a writer commented about the actor's role in Fibber McGee and Molly: When tall, thin Studebaker shuffles up to the mike as Silly Watson, Fibber, along with the audience, thinks that's very funny. Laughs as much as anyone else. It's not a prop laugh, either; it comes from deep down inside.

Related activities Studebaker was one of the people who founded the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Family Studebaker married Bertina Congdon in 1934. She had been his boss at KMBC.

Death Following a long illness, Studebaker died May 26, 1978, at Valley Presbyterian Hospital.